The War and The Rose
by kellyelin
Summary: Neal and Candy's adventure in the war zone in world war one.
1. Him Again

Chapter 1

Candy was very heart broken by all her unfulfilled love problems. Terry left her and now even Albert was gone. She felt so lonely and sad, she longed to run away from her current depressing life and decided to volunteer as a war nurse in Europe. She told Annie about her plan after made her promise not to tell Albert. Annie of course told Archie.

Neal was in town for the school holiday and went to visit his cousin, Archie. They were talking about many things including the war that's when Archie mentioned that Candy would go to the war zone to volunteer as a nurse.

"Why?" Neal said calmly pretending not to care although his heart was burning with curiosity.

"This war has been dragging for too long. It has claimed Stear's life. She said he inspired her. By the way, don't tell uncle William about this. She told us so."

So Neal decided to visit Candy.

One morning, Candy's servant announced, "Mr. Reagan is here, Ma'am."

Candy was shocked, the last time she saw him was when Albert rejected his engagement proposal in that fatal engagement party. It's been years that she didn't meet him. What brought him here, she wondered. In these few years, she never thought about him either.

As soon as she saw him, she confronted him rudely. "How did you get in here?"

"I told them the truth, Neal Reagan, your cousin," Neal said honestly with a grin. "Candy, how do you do?" He was about to bend to kiss her hand.

"Get out from here."

Candy was about to shout to call her servant. But, Neal rushed to shut her up by giving her a deep long kiss in her lips. He held her so tightly that she couldn't move no matter how she struggled. Unlike in the past, Neal was all grown up now. He's stronger, taller, and a real man in all sense of the word. She couldn't beat him up or pushed him as she liked anymore.

Finally he released her and said, "Let me stay for a moment, please."

"How dare you!" Candy lifted her hand ready to slap him. This time, he gripped her wrist to stop her hand from slapping him.

"Calm down, Candy. You are still as violent as always. Don't you miss me at all?" he said sarcastically.

"What do you want?"

"Why do you want to go to the war zone?" he said right to the point.

"None of your business."

"It is, now that I know it. Do you know how dangerous the condition in Europe is?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because I love you. Isn't it obvious?" he said calmly. "I want to make an offer to take you there."

"I refuse."

"If you refuse, I will tell uncle William about your plan."

"Tell him then. I don't think he cares. He's too busy with his work, he won't even notice that I am gone." Her voice broke a little and tears built up in her eyes.

"So that's the reason. He left you, didn't he?" said Neal observing her face intently.

Candy didn't respond.

"Let me take you there. Once you agree, I will leave right away. Otherwise, I'll let uncle William know. I mean it," he said with threatening tone.

Candy would do anything at all cost to have him out as soon as possible. Besides she really didn't want Albert to know. So she agreed. "Fine, but under one condition, no kiss in the ship."

"There will be two of us in the ocean for days and you don't want me to kiss you? That's hard," said Neal with a grimace teasing her as usual.

"Deal or no deal," demanded Candy.

"Deal, no kiss in the ship. I promise." He assured her.


	2. In The Ship

Chapter 2

Candy and Neal went for the journey. In the ship, Candy was really reluctant to talk to him but since there's no one else around, she had no option but to receive his company. Neal was trying to convince Candy how dangerous the situation in Europe was. But she still determined to go.

At the end he gave up and said, "Lucky you have me to protect you." He said with a smile. "I am a trained solider."

Ignoring Candy's disinterested face, he kept talking about what he's doing since the last time they met. He told her about his adventure to join the US army for one year.

"The first few months, I was at the bottom of the class. I worked very hard to improve. When I graduated, I was among the few who graduated with distinction," he said proudly. He also told her that he's a top student in his college and more...

Candy couldn't help to be impressed and started to contribute more and more in the conversation.

The following day didn't end too well. It ended with a fight. Candy was harassing him and somehow she stepped on a delicate issue that angered him.

"I didn't ask to be born in this Ardlay clan. It's not my fault that I belonged to this family," Neal shouted at her. "You are such a heartless woman."

"Oh yeah?" shouted Candy back. "And you have a heart?" she asked sarcastically.

"More than you." He answered back.

Both was exchanging words very loudly until a security person came to ask if everything was okay. Equally annoyed, both of them walked away in the opposite direction.

The following day, Neal approached Candy in her breakfast table.

"May I join you?"

Candy threw away her face without even answering. Disregarding her non-inviting gesture, he took a seat in front of her.

"Look Candy, we'll be stuck in this ship for many more days. Let's be friends and enjoy it, besides I already paid a lot of money for it."

"It's not your money anyways, why bother. All you need to to is to ask from your rich parents."

Neal sighed and breathed deeply trying to get calm.

"This is what I tried to explain to you yesterday. I used my money. I earned it. As you know, I go to college. In my spare time or long holiday, I work. That's how I get the money to pay for your ticket. I really pay using my own money. I didn't use my parents money."

Candy looked at him surprised and somehow felt guilty to her reaction the other day. "I didn't know that," she said.

"Yeah, just like everyone else, the first thing that comes to people's mind is we rich kids don't need to work and we can just have all the money coming to us. I will not let that happen to me. I will work hard and earn my own success."

"Why? What will you do with all the money?" asked Candy started to be interested.

"It's not about the money. First, nothing beats the taste of success. Second, it's true that everyone in the Ardlay clan gets some allowance. But, unless we have our own success, we can not stand up among other members of the family. I won't be able to afford buying as many exotic cars as I want, for example. I also want my wife to wear jewelry and clothing that's better than the rest of the family members."

"Your wife?" asked Candy in surprise. She never knew that he's such a family person."Well, your wife will be lucky then."

"There's an opening, do you want to apply?" he said with a grin.

"No thanks," Candy said shortly.

Neal said, "Look, let's have a truce today and enjoy all the games available in this ship, shall we?"

Touched by his explanation that he used his own salary to buy her the ship ticket, Candy decided to cooperate and agreed. Besides, Candy was basically an easy going woman who were friendly to others. So both tried to cooperate and not to step on each other tail and went to have fun. They took part in gambles, watched a play, played cards, watched silent movie and more. The same with the following day. They really had a good time. Surprisingly, the more she was with him the more she started to enjoy his companion. She certainly didn't know that Neal could be a fun companion. Whenever he won a gamble or a game, he always spent the money for her. He bought her some little stuffs of her choosing. He made her feel important and feel appreciated.

At dinner, Neal told Candy about the incoming ball and suggested to come.

"I don't bring any dress. I am going to a war zone not a party," Candy said.

"Then we buy one. Come, let me help you to pick one. I am pretty good at it, I do that often to Eliza."

Having not much thing to do, Candy agreed. So the following day they went together to shop for a dress. She was surprised on how careful Neal was in picking a dress. It took hours, countless of discussions and dozens of dresses to try before finally he settled on one not to mention the accessories like shoes, earrings, necklace...

"It always takes you this much time to help Eliza to pick a dress?" asked Candy in disbelief.

She actually secretly enjoyed it. No man had ever taken her to buy a dress this seriously before. Archie did, but with Annie standing next to him, there's not much room for them to interact.

"If I am into it, yes. If not, then I just spend a few minutes on it." He grinned widely.

"You are as good as Archie," praised Candy genuinely impressed by his pick of style.

"Now that's an insult," he sneered. "I am much better than him. I just don't care about shopping as much."

So the following day, Candy was getting ready for the ball. She did her hair, nail, make up and more meticulously under Neal's active involvement. He came every now and then to check how she's doing and did a little chat with her. He told her what he did outside and so on. Since he's almost the only man around, many started to notice him and Candy. Many women in that shop were awed by him and started to make comments while he's not around. "Such a caring young man", "Very sweet", "Lucky girl", "I saw him yesterday too in the boutique department", "Me too" some responded back, "He knows style!", "Don't you think he's gorgeous?", "I like his tan skin" someone whispered but Candy could still hear it.

Candy was laughing happily inside her heart. One older lady held Candy's hands and said with motherly tone before she left, "Take good care of your fine young man, Girl. He's one in a million." Candy giggled in her heart, very happy and proud of her friend.

When all were ready, Neal came to Candy's room to pick her up for the ball.

As soon as Neal saw Candy, he was speechless for a while before saying, "Beautiful!" He was so impressed by her beauty. "You are very beautiful." He kissed her hand like a true gentleman.

Candy silently also admired him. Suddenly, out of the blue she realized how handsome he was. He's tall and attractive like the rest of the Ardlay boys. His amber skin indeed brought extra touch to his charm like what those girls said in the shop. He's athletic masculine body definitely was a far cry from the tiny boy she used to beat up in the past. The bad boy image in his eyes looked daring and radiant now which captured her every nerve. Suddenly she was aware of his profound stare at her and felt shy. She avoided his glaring eyes with a flash of shy smile which he noticed.

They went to the ball to enjoy the rest of the evening. During the ball, Neal tried to persuade her again for not going to the war zone.

"I will go," Candy said suddenly realized the true purpose of her trip. The past few days had brought her so much fun that she almost forgot all about it. "I need a change," she said with a gloomy face.

"I am a fighter both in life and love. I can never understand someone like you who want to ruin your own life for the sake of fools who don't care much about you."

"What do you mean?" asked Candy. "What would you do if you were in my place?" She told him the problems she had. Finally she said, "At the peak of my expectation, they left me."

"Anthony of course had no option. But if I were Terry, I would do anything but to leave you. There are always alternative solutions. How come love is dictated by obligation, what kind of love is that? Then Archie, his case is even more stupid. He pretty much surrendered to Annie and didn't do much to fight for you. If I were him, I'd make up my mind and leave Annie without turning back regardless of the consequences long ago. Uncle William is even sillier. He used his busy schedule as an excuse to leave you. He could have taken you to his business trips. Look how much time we have to spend in this ship, we have days of nothing much to do. He could have occasionally taken you with him."

Candy didn't know how to answer and decided to ask a question that started to linger in her head.

"What about you? Do you have any dates? Girlfriends?"

"Arghh," he said with downsizing tone. "I have more than what I care to remember. You know my mom, sometimes in one night she made me dance for hours with so many girls that by the end of the night I couldn't remember the faces and the names anymore. They didn't know that while I was dancing, I was imagining someone else in mind."

"Who is it?" Candy asked.

"You," he said seriously. "Unlike them, I even proposed to you. But, no one believed that I did that because I truly love you."

Candy was speechless. She opened her eyes wide surprised at his answer. He gave a quick kiss on her cheek. While in the past she'd easily slap him, somehow now she couldn't react. Maybe because of the romantic setting, or his serious face, his non-sarcastic air, or maybe because she got to know him better, or maybe because of his attractive face in the tuxedo, or maybe because of the discussions she had with the women in the shop, or maybe because all of the above somehow now she just froze.

"Shall we dance again?" he said finally waking her up from her daydream. She only could nod.

The next music was a slow motion dancing. Neal pulled her head to his chest but again she didn't feel like rejecting it. Her heart beat so hard until she wondered if he could heard it. Feeling her so closed in his arms made his blood boil with passion and wish to be even closer to her. When the ball was over, he took her back to her room. At the door, he stood silently watching deeply into her eyes so much tempted to spend the night together and be closer to her. Candy stared back at him. The tender look of his penetrating honey eyes seemed to freeze her. All she could was to stare back at him. She didn't even move to close the door. Seeing her unmoved, he moved closer to her, lifted his hand to touch her cheek and caressed it gently. Then, he moved his fingers to gently pat her lips where he remembered his promise not to kiss them in the ship. How much he wished he could kiss them. How much he wished he could be inside her and to love her. Not wanting to ruin the trust she started to have on him, he let go her lips. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her gently to hug her. He closed his eyes and caressed her intensely for a moment before kissing her forehead and said tenderly, "I love you, Candy. Good night."

Candy could feel the intense passion he had for her. The burning desire was real and not just a bad joke like what she used to think. She felt very confused with all new mixed of feelings she started to develop for him. His continuous declaration of love for her in words and actions finally started to penetrate deep in her heart and slowly tore down her resistance towards him.


	3. War Zone

Chapter 3

The following day Neal and Candy arrived in the UK. Since Candy's trip was a secret to Albert, in the UK they're greeted by the Reagan's staff in London. Neal introduced Candy to his staff and gave instructions what to do should something bad happened. He spent a lot of time telling Candy what to do should anything bad happened. He gave her a list of the Reagan and Ardlay phone numbers across the UK too.

Finally, Candy and Neal took a train to the final destination. Neal took his backpack with him. He picked the seats in the last wagon of the train. He was really worried about Candy. He non-stopped debating if he should just take Candy back to America by force. After sometimes in the train, among the loud train sound, Candy could hear a banging noise in the background. She wondered what sound that was. Suddenly Neal got up, grabbed his bag and pulled Candy.

"Come with me, hurry," he said.

He didn't know for sure what sound that was either, but he sensed danger. Candy was so surprised and just followed his hurry move. He pulled her to go outside the train from the back door. As soon as they went outside and Neal finished closing the door, Candy could see people with guns entering their wagon from the front door. She heard people screaming and sound of guns. She was so stunt.

Neal threw away his backpack and told Candy, "Jump!"

Neal pulled Candy to jump with him from the train to the ground. Candy was so horrified. They were rolling on the ground and she felt him pulling her to hide behind the bushes until the train disappeared. They saw no one coming out from the train, it seemed that no one was aware that there were two passengers escaped from the train.

"What was that" asked Candy terrified.

"Probably genocide, I don't know. We're in a war zone anything could happen."

Candy was very afraid and started to cry. Neal was very frightened, too. Here they were in the middle of nowhere left with their own devices. His heart sank and for a moment he was frozen not knowing what to do. But, seeing her beloved cry, he realized how much she's in danger. He regretted he didn't force Candy to go back to America with him instead of letting her go doing her own plan. But now it's too late, what's done is done. He needed to find solutions quickly to bring her beloved woman to safety.

"Candy don't worry, we go to the nearest village and contact the Ardlay office." Neal tried to sound cheerful although deep inside he's so worried.

Neal asked Candy to wait under a tree while he's looking for his bag. Anticipating for the worst, he took some precaution in his bag like blanket, food, knife, matches, and more. Well as he said, he's a trained solder… Then they continued to walk. But bad news kept coming. After a few hours of walking, Candy found her ankle hurt so much that she couldn't walk anymore. It must be from the jump from the train. So Neal carried her to sit under a tree. He made a stretcher using his knife and tree branches with the technique he learned from the army training class. He let Candy sit on it and he pulled it. Candy was so touched by his kindness to her.

They kept moving for a while before taking a rest under a fruit tree.

Candy said, "With fine ankles, I could have climbed this tree easily and we could get the fruit."

"Let me try," Neal said. After some effort, finally he could manage to climb and got some fruits back.

"I didn't know you can climb trees," Candy said genuinely admiring the effort.

"I never cared about outdoor activities other than cars or books until I joined the army. I learned to climb trees in the army." He grinned.

As the night fell, Neal tried to make fire. It took him a lot of effort, but after some difficulties he finally succeeded. Candy was excited and clapped her hands. They sat silently watching the fire, each deeply sank in their own thoughts. Candy started to feel worried and cried again. She regretted to drag both of them in this dangerous mess.

Neal hugged her and comforted her. "We will arrive in one village tomorrow, from there we go to London. Don't worry."

But Candy was still crying. After a while, Neal started to sing.

"Do you remember this song?" he asked. "Sr. Grey used to let us sing this in the school meeting."

Candy laughed right away. She never heard Neal singing and didn't know that he could even sing. She then sang another song. "I like this one, do you remember Mr. Jones taught this for the outdoor gathering?" And so they were singing and chatting about their school time memory until she fell asleep...

After she slept, he hugged and covered her with a blanket to ensure she's not cold. He thought about the plan for tomorrow with occasional sighs regretting he didn't force her to come back to America with him. He caressed her hair gently with determination to take her back to America safely. Then he slept too.

The following day Neal again pulled her. Candy was so touched for his devotion to her. While sitting there she was thinking of his attitude towards her and couldn't appreciate it more. Thinking about their conversation in the ship, his aspiration, and how they did fun things together made her see many fun and serious sides of him. Behind his teasing nature was an undeniable love and devotion for her. Although he looked shabby on the contrary to that night in tuxedo, to her he's the most elegant man ever. For each step he made, it brought her heart a step closer to him. How much he's willing to do for her sake was too much for her to see.

In the afternoon, probably because she didn't move much, or probably she didn't eat enough, she started to feel cold. She was having some light fever. Lucky they had arrived in a village. But, that village was having an evacuation and in a total chaos. It could be because of the event related to yesterday's train shooting. Armies and police officers were everywhere. But the situation was so chaotic, the infra structure broke down, no business was operational. They couldn't make a phone call to London. Neal almost cried with frustration with bad news after bad news that kept coming endlessly. But, seeing Candy's condition made him panic and found no time to distress. He doubted she could survive another day outdoor so he had to have her evacuated.

He went to the evacuation carriage and tried to get Candy evacuated. But the coach said the cart was full and already overweight. Undeterred, he kept trying to get Candy evacuated. So he tried to make a deal with the coach.

"We're newly weds. My wife is sick and pregnant, she couldn't walk because of injury, please help us. Please take her. We can put her there." He pointed to a big luggage next to the man.

"That is my belonging."

"We exchange that with her. I give you all money I have to compensate." Neal bargained and showed him his money. "This is all I have but should be enough to cover the cost of your luggage."

"What's the use of money in this chaos situation, young man?" sneered the man.

"It has no use now, but it will be in London. Please help my wife," begged Neal.

After some negotiations the coach agreed and said, "Ok, but one person only. You can't go with us."

"Thank you," Neal said.

So he ran to Candy. Candy felt so miserable with her fever and headache but she could see Neal coming bringing a piece of wire. He made a ring from it and put it in her finger.

He said, "I told the coach that we are a poor newlywed couple, you are sick, pregnant, and got injured. Be sure to make the story consistent. In London, contact the Ardlay office and go back to the USA right away. Do not wait for me, do you understand?"

"'I'?" she asked. "What about you?"

"Candy they can only take one person. We need to be hurry before it's taken by someone else." He told her briefly about the situation.

"But what about you? I don't want to go without you." She was getting hysterical.

"Look Candy, you always want to get rid of me, why makes it difficult now? Now is the time when you need to go alone without me."

Candy was crying and shouting refusing to go alone. Neal planted a long deep kiss to her lips to silence her.

Then, he looked at her with determination and said calmly, "I love you, Candy. But, you have to go without me. You are sick and you can't walk. We can't run this way. It's very harmful to you. With the carriage, you'll arrive in London tonight or tomorrow. You'll be fine."

"I don't want you to die," she said tearfully caressing his cheek with her hand. "I want to die here with you."

"No one will die. I won't die, you won't die," he said with confidence holding her hand.

Without wasting anymore time, Neal carried Candy and put her in the carriage. Candy grabbed his neck and kissed him until the carriage moved to separate them.

Dreading this would be her last time to see him, she decided to tell him her feeling before it's too late.

"I love you, Neal," she shouted between her tears. "Come back to me quickly, I want to be your wife. I want to be your wife," she cried hopelessly as the carriage moved separating them farther and farther.

Even though the coach had witnessed countless of separation, his hardened heart couldn't help to move hearing Candy's hopeless scream.

Luckily the rest of the journey was peaceful with Candy. She reached the shelter, contacted the Ardlay office and being rescued. The rest was easy, the ankle was fine in a few days, so did the cold. Honoring Neal's request, which she feared was the last, she went back to America. Her heart saddened when she needed to leave the UK without him. In the ship, she cried constantly remembering all nice things he did for her. She regretted so much that she didn't return his love much sooner.


	4. Love You

Chapter 4

_**Back in Chicago...**_

Annie was stunt and hardly could believe her story about Neal. Her heart broke seeing how grief-stricken her friend was. Candy told her about the ring and showed it to her. When Annie saw it, she was so touched and both cried together. Archie couldn't believe that his cousin actually accompanied Candy to go to Europe. Although he somewhat regretted telling him about it, he's also relieved because without him, it seemed Candy wouldn't make the trip. Albert was shocked to hear the whole story. He felt touched seeing the ring he made for her. Finally he realized that the engagement drama that happened years ago was really built on a solid foundation of love. He informed his family about what happened to their beloved son. They've been wondering about his whereabouts. He's supposed to work in the London office during the summer vacation, but he never showed up. His parents and sister were very worried. Finally they knew what had happened just to find that he's location was unknown somewhere in the war zone. His mother cried inconsolably. Candy felt so guilty. Aunt Elroy of course asked if they did anything inappropriate. Candy answered the truth, "No. He's a true gentleman until the end." Aunt Elroy looked at her skeptically and Candy was crying again thinking about him. Seeing how fragile Candy was emotionally, Albert decided to have her stay with him in his residence to avoid excessive interrogation by his parents or aunt Elroy which he worried would cause more damaged rather than good. He asked everyone to calm down and wait for Neal to show up.

_**Two weeks later...**_

Finally Neal arrived back in Chicago. His parents and sister were very relieved to see him back. His mother and sister hugged their beloved son and brother tearfully. He missed them too. He shared them his story and comforted them that all was fine before he went to look for Candy. He found out that she stayed with Albert. So, he went to visit Albert's residence. When he arrived, he found Candy was with Albert. Candy ran to hug him, but seeing Albert, Neal turned frozen.

Neal nodded to Albert politely and said, "Uncle William. I didn't know you're here, I should come back again later."

Albert came to him with a friendly smile. He hugged him and said, "Call me Albert, thanks for saving my precious Candy. I made her stay here to protect her from your parents and aunt Elroy. I think you know what I mean."

Neal nodded and both laughed.

"Now that you are here, let me go so you two can catch up the news with each other," said Albert.

After Albert left, Neal looked at Candy and said, "Do you still mean what you told me from the carriage?"

Candy lifted her hand and showed the ring he made from the wire. "Look, I am still wearing it."

Neal looked at it in awed. "You are still wearing it!"

"Yes, I am still wearing it and I showed it to all people I met. Archie, Annie, Albert,..."

He opened his arms and Candy ran directly to hug him. "I love you, Neal."

He showered her with kisses. His heart was full with so much joy to hear her saying it.

"I love you, I always love you," Neal said. "I am so relieved to see you again." He hugged her so tightly as though afraid to let her go. "I was very worried. How's your ankle, your cold, everything?"

"Fine, all are fine now."

"You should tell me everything but first let's do this...," said Neal.

Neal knelt down on one knee and took out a velvet box of ring from his pocket.

"This one is better, let me replace the wire ring with this," said Neal.

He took the wire ring off from her finger. He then took the diamond ring out from the box and put it in her finger.

Candy couldn't believe what she saw. With tears in her eyes she knelt next to him to hug him. She reached out to the wire ring and put it in the box.

"I will keep this one forever," she said.

They hugged and kissed one another. He's very happy to finally win the heart of the woman whom he always longed for. In all occasions, it's her that he pictured to be with in the future. He carried her in a circle and both of them laughed excitedly full of youthful glow and joy. Gone is the barrier between them. It's forever torn down to pave the way for the new road to the future.

"I really wanted to meet your parents to tell the story, but Albert didn't let me. He's afraid that they're mad at me, which they have all the right to be," Candy said finally while hugging him.

"That's fine. They are okay now, I am not a baby anymore," said Neal while kissing and caressing her blonde hair at the same time. "Candy, could we go outside? Having been in outdoor for so long, I start to like it," he said with a grin.

So hand in hand they walked together. Candy was very happy and proud to wear the engagement ring she had in her finger.

"It's beautiful," she said admiring the sparkling diamond ring. "You bought this?" She meant it as a sarcastic joke like what Neal liked to do.

"Unfortunately, no. I can't afford it. It's a family heritage given by my father. The nice thing of being an Ardlay leech is to enjoy all these perks without having to actually do anything to earn it. But I promise to work hard and be successful. In the future, I'll buy you one with my own money. "

Seeing how disappointed he looked, she hurriedly said, "Sorry, I was just teasing. Just the way you used to be... Do your parents know about us?"

"I told them that I still love you. They said I need to be absolutely sure that you love me too and uncle William agrees before making another engagement announcement. They don't want to be a laughing stock again like last time," he said with a big grin.

Both laughed about that.

"Now, tell me your story," said Neal.

So she told her the story in details from the last time they met to coming to America.

"You're very brave. You are truly my hero in all sense of the word," she said finally.

"Without my army instructor, I wouldn't come back alive. I was actually very frightened. But seeing how you were, I determined to have you come home safely and tried my best to overcome the fear."

Neal then told his story. They were walking for days with very little food or water and no shelter whatsoever even at night. They kept walking either it was rainy or sunny, hot or windy.

"I was half glad that I let you go in that carriage, but also half worried. Back then, I wasn't sure if that's the correct decision. Anything could happen on the way to London. You're sick and alone. What if someone took advantage of that. But at that time I had no other option. Right or wrong got blurred at war and somehow the lucky ones survive. We're lucky you arrived safely. If anything happened to you, I could never forgive myself."

He witnessed plenty of gruesome scenes of war along the way and did lots of reflection.

"I was one of the best students in army training class, but to actually be in the war zone is another story. I thought about Stear a lot. Unlike us, he never returns. I tried to imagine what he went trough. Suddenly I realize that to have a garage full of exotic cars is not important at all! Instead I will be more active in charity organizations in Stear's memory."

Candy nodded in silence.

"Candy, would you mind if I go back to college next week after the vacation is over? I have ten more months to go, I really want to realize my goals like what I told you in the ship."

"Certainly, I might come to visit you too to check if you give the same promises you give to me to someone else in there," teasing her.

"Good, please come, show my ring to anyone especially my mom's friends. Let them all know that I am taken so they stop bugging me," said Neal.

He then turned around, kissed Candy and said seriously, "I love you very much. There's no someone else. There will never be someone else. Not now, not later, forever."

So finally Candy accepted the love from the person whom she spent fighting all childhood years. Before Neal went back to college he did ask for Candy's hand from Albert. Candy also met Neal's parents. All parties agreed and they couldn't be happier. True love does withstand all obstacles to be with the one to love. How the road unwind was really unexpected...

**-THE END-**

Thanks for reading.


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